Any single verse of the Bible, taken in isolation, may actually be dangerous to your spiritual health. Every part of read more

Any single verse of the Bible, taken in isolation, may actually be dangerous to your spiritual health. Every part of it must be read in relation to the whole message.

All theological language is necessarily analogical, but it was singularly unfortunate that the Church, in speaking of punishment for sin, read more

All theological language is necessarily analogical, but it was singularly unfortunate that the Church, in speaking of punishment for sin, should have chosen the analogy of criminal law, for the analogy is incompatible with the Christian belief in God as the creator of Man. Criminal laws are laws, imposed on men, who are already in existence, with or without their consent, and, with the possible exception of capital punishment for murder, there is no logical relation between the nature of a crime and the penalty inflicted for committing it. If God created man, then the laws of man's spiritual nature must, like the laws of his physical nature, be laws -- laws, that is to say, which he is free to defy but no more free to break than he can break the law of gravity by jumping out of the window, or the laws of biochemistry by getting drunk -- and the consequences of defying them must be as inevitable and as intrinsically related to their nature as a broken leg or a hangover. To state spiritual laws in the imperative -- Thou shalt love God with all thy being, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself -- is simply a pedagogical technique, as when a mother says to her small son, "Stay away from the window!" because the child does not yet know what will happen if he falls out of it.

He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.

He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.

Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564 It behooves us to accomplish what God requires of read more

Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564 It behooves us to accomplish what God requires of us, even when we are in the greatest despair respecting the results.

Concluding a short series on education: The devout student is the best of all students. There are too read more

Concluding a short series on education: The devout student is the best of all students. There are too many who are devout, but not students. They will not accept the discipline of study and of learning, and they even look with suspicion upon the further knowledge which study brings to men. There are equally too many who are students, but not devout. They are interested too much in intellectual knowledge, and too little in the life of prayer and in the life of service of their fellow men. A man would do well to aim at being not only a student, and not only devout, but at being a devout student.

Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 But when does flesh receive the bread which He calls His read more

Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 But when does flesh receive the bread which He calls His flesh? The faithful know and receive the Body of Christ if they labor to be the body of Christ; and they become the body of Christ if they study to live by the Spirit of Christ: for that which lives by the Spirit of Christ is the body of Christ.

Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533 Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, read more

Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533 Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, 1897 People talk about special providences. I believe in the providences, but not in the speciality. I do not believe that God lets the thread of my affairs go for six days, and on the seventh evening takes it up for a moment.

Feast of Stephen, Deacon, First Martyr Lord of all pots and pans and things, since I've no time to be read more

Feast of Stephen, Deacon, First Martyr Lord of all pots and pans and things, since I've no time to be A saint by doing lovely things, or watching late with Thee, Or dreaming in the dawn-light, or storming Heaven's gates, Make me a saint by getting meals and washing up the plates. Although I must have Martha's hands, I have a Mary mind, And when I black the boots and shoes, Thy sandals, Lord, I find. I think of how they trod the earth, what time I scrub the floor: Accept this meditation, Lord, I haven't time for more. Warm all the kitchen with Thy love, and light it with Thy peace; Forgive me all my worrying, and make my grumbling cease. Thou who didst love to give men food, in room or by the sea, Accept this service that I do -- I do it unto Thee.

There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for Thine own read more

There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love Thee for Thine own sake, whose joy Thou Thyself art. And this is the happy life, to rejoice to Thee, of Thee, for Thee; this it is, and there is no other. ... The Confessions of St. Augustine April 4, 1998 The merit of persons is to be no rule of our charity; but we are to do acts of kindness to those that least of all deserve it.